A combined image shows Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in San Francisco, California, United States, November 16, 2023, and Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of 2023.
Carlos Barría | Gonzalo Fuentes | Reuters
Jury Selection Begins in the High Stakes legal battle between long-time friends turned rivals Elon Musk And Sam Altman at a federal courthouse in Oakland, California.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers is overseeing the proceedings, which begin Monday, between the world’s richest person and the CEO of OpenAI. Nine jurors will be seated and there will be no alternates, according to a filing in March. CNBC is in the courtroom for the proceedings.
Muskwho co-founded OpenAI in 2015, continued the company, Altman and Greg Brockman, president of OpenAI, in 2024, alleging that they had abandoned their commitments to maintain the artificial intelligence lab is a non-profit organization and pursues its charitable mission. OpenAI has repeatedly dismissed Musk’s lawsuit as “baseless.” Musk left OpenAI’s board in 2018 and started five years later xAI as a rival, merging that company with SpaceX earlier this year.
Musk sought a number of different remedies during the case, including removal of Altman and Brockman from their roles at OpenAI. Musk’s lawyers said in January that he should receive up to $134 billion in “unjustified gains”, although he has since asked to reinvest these funds in the OpenAI charity.
Read more CNBC tech newsGonzalez Rogers chose to divide the trial into two parts: an accountability phase to decide whether wrongdoing occurred, and a recourse phase to determine appropriate damages and next steps. The jury will only intervene during the accountability phase and its verdict will be advisory, meaning Gonzalez Rogers will make the final decision in both sections of the trial.
The accountability phase of the trial is expected to last until mid-May. If OpenAI is found to be at fault, Gonzalez Rogers will hear arguments in favor of the repair phase, which is program is scheduled to begin on May 18. Gonzales Rogers said Monday she expects the liability aspect of the case to conclude by May 21.
Musk alleges in his lawsuit that he was “assiduously manipulated” and “deceived” by OpenAI, Altman and Brockman and their promises to “chart a safer and more open path than profit-driven tech giants.” He asked the judge to consider breaking up the company. recent restructuringwhich consolidated its structure as a non-profit organization with a majority stake in its for-profit activities.
Of the 26 claims made by Musk in 2024, only two stay: unjust enrichment and breach of charitable trust. Musk’s lawyers rejected two of the requestsfraud and disguised fraud, before trial in an effort to “streamline the case,” filing shows
The trial comes as Musk prepares to take SpaceX public in what will likely be a record IPO and as OpenAI prepares for its own public offering expected later this year. The two companies combined are valued at more than $2 trillion in the private market.
— CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.
WATCH: Elon Musk and Sam Altman to appear in court next week: here’s what to expect from the trial